Greece & Ioanian Islands for Budget travellers
 

We are two ladies travelling to Greece in mid September, which we understand to be less 'hectic' that earlier touristy months.
Plan is tohave at least 2 weeks at our disposal to do 2/3 days Athens, 4 days Corfu, and a week travelling Kephalonia, Ithaka and other islands.

Please can I ask for any tips, don't do's and reccomendations of where to not stay. We are looking for as typical a 'Greek' experience as we can have, especially in terms of good local food and wine. Specific questions I want to ask is:
Is backpacker/budget accomodation do-able in Athens?
Is Corfu Old Town extremely boistrous and loud, or is there charm still? Has anyone tried out the morning markets in the town? Where else in Corfu is a good place to stay?
Are ferries from Corfu to Kephalonia reliable in mid - end September?
Is it possible to rent a chartered boat that will sail two of us around the islands for a week? (we don't sail so will need a skipper)
Look forward to the responses.

Your questions are quite controversial.....

On one hand you are asking for a very low budget accommodation in Athens. ( do you really want to stay at a backpacker hostel? They are not that common in Greece as in other countries, you can find low budget but decent accommodation though. Booking.com has many low budget options)

On the other hand you ask for a boat with skipper just for the two of you, which would be extremely expensive.....

Arriving in Athens you would have to fly to Corfu or take a KTEL bus, the whole trip if done by bus will last about 8 hours.

From Corfu you can visit eventually the islands of Paxi and Antipaxi, but that's about all.

Kefalonia and Ithaka are too far away and there is no ferry connection with Corfu.You would have to go by bus to Patra and take the boat to Kefalonia from there.

Corfu town is a lovely historical city, there are not too many hotels there, my favourite ones in terms of location are :
Cavalieri and Arkadion

I think it would be better to visit from Corfu the Mainland of Epirus, with some amazing places and beaches.
I will give you a few names to google :
Sivota, Parga, Acheron Springs, Preveza and Lefkas ( Island that can be easily visited from the mainland, as it is connected to it with a bridge)

It would be of help if you would share more info about your selfs , such as age, interests ( other than food and wine), so that you can receive more detailed recommendations :)

If you don't mind sharing a bed the Pella Inn in Athens has a private double room with en suite bath and they are very reasonably priced at €144 for 3 nights.

The booking.com website has some incredibly low priced options in Athens at present. I looked at it yesterday and a hotel I stayed in in 2002 is now nearly 50% less than I paid then. You will not find a better time to stay and I see no reason to stay in a backpackers when the prices are so good.

Very true golfernz1
Have found many low budget Hotels too,OP should just try to avoid Omonoia Square area.
We are always here to give advice about the area :)

You would do better to stick with the area of Corfu - Paxos - Parga(mainland) because there are no ferries from Corfu or Igoumenitsa to Kefalonia at that time of year. You have to go to Patras and then to Kefalonia. With only a week then you would spend all your time with the logistics of getting to Ithaki, Lefkada and Zakinthos. Thus it's impractical in your timescale.
If you really are a backpacker/budget traveller there is no way you could afford a charter boat.